


Alone

by Rissalena



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Mando isn't the one afraid to fall in love, Protective Mando, Slow Burn, Soft Mando, Some angst, sorta AU - Kuiil survives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22833379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rissalena/pseuds/Rissalena
Summary: After accidentally causing the total destruction of her ship, Mando asks a woman to join him on the Razor Crest until he can find a way to make it up to her. Reluctant at first, he quickly finds himself falling for her. But she's survived by not letting anyone in. Will it be different this time?(Sorry, I'm so bad at summaries)
Relationships: The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr if you want to come say hi - @rissalena

“I need a ride while my ship is being repaired. It’s urgent. I’ve found someone that might know something about the child’s people, but I need to reach him before Gideon does.”

Kuiil paused in his assessment of the Razor Crest’s damage. He looked at the Mandalorian, then over his shoulder at the other ship parked nearby. He thought carefully for a moment, then he sighed.

“Enna,” he called. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

A woman emerged from the small hut that could only be referred to as Kuiil’s guest room. She looked young, but Mando quickly realized she was probably close to his own age; she carried herself with a maturity and wariness that only came with age. He’d never been the sort to allow himself to be distracted by a woman, so he wasn’t sure what it was about her that caught his attention. But he found himself seeking out her eyes, and was surprised to find them staring directly into his, despite them being hidden by his helmet. He had to force himself to look away.

“This Mandalorian has need of a ship,” Kuiil continued. “I would not ask if it were not an emergency.”

“I’ll have it back to you in a couple of days,” Mando cut in.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to just let you take my ship.” Her voice was sweet, light, but there was a tone of steel running through it.

“I don’t have time to discuss it.” Mando persisted.

“It’s my ship,” she said politely, but firmly. “But since you’re a friend of Kuiil, I’ll fly you to wherever it is you need to go.”

Mando sighed in resignation. “Fine,” he said.

She could feel his gaze on her as she turned to duck into the hut, grabbing her already packed bag and reemerging in time to hear the tail end of a conversation between Mando and Kuiil.

“I need to leave the Child here,” Mando was saying. “It’s not safe to bring him with me.”

“I will watch the Child,” Kuiil responded. “He will be safe here.”

Mando glanced suspiciously at Enna as she approached, but offered her no further explanation.

“Let’s go,” he said gruffly, laying his hand on the strange pod floating in the air next to Kuiil. “I’ll be back soon.”

Kuiil just nodded, and Mando and Enna headed for her ship.

__________________________________________________________________

Enna’s ship was old, like his, and he surveyed the cockpit as Enna dropped into the pilot’s seat.

“Where to?” She gestured to the empty co-pilot’s seat beside her as she began her take off procedure.

“It’s easier if I put the coordinates in myself,” he said coarsely.

She said nothing, but leaned back, allowing him to enter their destination into the ship’s navigation system.

They sat in silence as they took off, neither wanting to be the first to speak. Safely hidden beneath his helmet, Mando kept secretly stealing glances at Enna, Enna not so secretly stealing glances at the Mandalorian. Finally, curiosity got the better of her, and Enna turned to face him.

“So,” she began, trying to sound casual. “Where are we going?”

The Mandalorian was silent for a moment, before finally turning his helmeted head towards her.

“Small desert planet,” he said curtly. “Someone there might have information I need.”

“Information on a bounty?”

“Not exactly,” he said cautiously. “I’m … trying to get someone home.”

“But not for a bounty?”

He looked at her silently again, warring with himself internally. He wanted to tell her, _why did he want to tell her?_ Automatic distrust was his default setting, but there was something about her, something that made him want to trust her, made him genuinely believe that he _could_ trust her.

“It’s kind of a long story,” he finally said, noncommittally.

Enna had always been good at reading people, as a matter of survival. She could look into a person’s eyes and know who they were. She couldn’t see this man’s eyes, but there were other things to see. The tension in his shoulders, the downcast turn of his head, the slightest note of hope in his voice.

“We have time,” she replied.

Finally, reluctantly, he spoke.

“I picked up a bounty on Nevarro a few months ago. No information beyond the tracking fob. I finally located it, and it turned out to be this … baby. It was a species I’d never seen before and it had … powers. It’s hard to explain, but it saved my life. I didn’t ...” He paused, unsure of how to continue, before sighing. “I’m a bounty hunter. I get paid to do a job, the job gets done. So I brought the kid back to Nevarro, and handed him off to the ex-Imperial officer that had hired me.” He glanced up at Enna as he said that, waiting for her reaction of disgust, but her face remained passive.

“I took the reward, got my next job, and just wanted to put Nevarro in my rear view. But I couldn’t. I went back for him,” he continued, and this time her expression did change, a combination of surprise and satisfaction. She clearly hadn’t expected that. “It wasn’t pretty, the whole guild came after me. The Mandalorians helped me get away, but they …” He trailed off, not ready to talk about that. “By my Creed, as a foundling, the child is my responsibility.”

He paused, the slightest hint of sadness entering his voice. “I’m trying to find his people. That’s where we’re going. There’s a person there that might know what he is. But there are still Imps trying to get their hands on him. I have to stay a step ahead of them. That’s why I needed your ship.”

Enna stared at him for a moment. She made it a point to know what was happening on Nevarro, with the bounty hunters guild in particular. She’d heard about a Mandalorian betraying the guild, and then clearing out an entire company of Imperials to get back into their good graces. She was shocked to discover the man sitting next to her was _that_ Mandalorian

After a long silence, she extended her hand. “I never introduced myself. My name is Enna.”

He hesitated for a moment. “You can just call me Mando,” he finally replied, reaching out his own hand to shake hers.

They talked about unimportant things for the rest of the trip, Mando surprising himself with how open he was with Enna. She was friendly, easy to talk to, but it did not escape him that, for all her warmth and compassion, she barely uttered a single phrase about herself.

Eventually they reached their destination, landing on the outskirts of a small town. Both Enna and Mando gathered their things and made their way off the ship.

“If you don’t need me,” Enna began as they made their way to the town, “I’m going to take the opportunity to pick up some supplies.” She seemed nervous in the town, eyes constantly moving to take in her surroundings. Mando nodded, trying to ignore his sudden concern for her. He had other things to worry about.

“Call me when you’re done,” Enna said, passing him a small, handheld communicator, and they parted ways.

Enna’s errands were quick, and she was glad that, less than an hour later, her comm was buzzing.

“I’m done here,” the Mandalorian’s voice crackled over the communicator.

“Me too,” Enna replied. “I’ll meet you at the town gate.”

Mando reached their meeting spot before she did, and was leaning on one of the stone pillars when she arrived, his body language radiating tension.

“Did it not go well?” She asked, surprising him by how easily she read him.

“No,” he replied, a hint of anger in his voice. “The man knew nothing. This was a waste of time.”

“I’m sorry,” Enna said, and under his helmet Mando’s expression softened at the genuine sympathy in her voice.

“Let’s go,” he said in resignation, and they began the short walk back to Enna’s ship on the outskirts. They were almost there when Mando stopped with a swear, grabbing Enna’s arm and pulling her behind him.

“What’s wrong,” she asked quietly, panic beginning to grip her.

“This was a trap,” Mando replied, the anger much more evident in his voice now. Enna peered over his shoulder to see a handful of Stormtroopers outside her ship, another handful making their way down the ramp leading out of the ship. A TIE fighter sat a short way off, a tall man dressed all in black standing beside it.

“Gideon”, Mando said through clenched teeth. He crouched down, bringing Enna with him.

“Are they after the child,” she asked in a low whisper. Mando nodded and began assessing his weapons.

“Do you have any weapons on you?” he asked brusquely, and Enna shook her head.

She heard him sigh and watched him steel himself, ready to take on the whole group alone, when an explosion tore through the air. Without thinking, Mando threw himself protectively over Enna, wrapping his arms around her and shielding her with his armored body as chunks of metal flew through the air. They stayed motionless for a moment, Enna grateful for the Beskar covered body covering her. Finally, Mando pulled himself away, staying low but looking up to survey the damage.

Her ship was completely destroyed. There were pieces of it strewn across the landscape, no piece big enough to even be recognizable as a ship. Gideon was climbing into his fighter, not even glancing back at the bodies of the dozen or so stormtroopers he’d just sacrificed. Mando and Enna finally stood as he flew away, Enna in silent shock at the scene in front of her. Mando stood silent as well, his anger replaced by guilt. He didn’t even try to go after Gideon, his thoughts were completely consumed by the woman standing next to him. Her ship had been destroyed, and it was his fault.

He put a hand on her shoulder and she jerked back to reality, collecting herself for a moment before turning to face him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice heavy with regret.

“It’s not your fault.” He could see in her eyes that she genuinely didn’t blame him, but that didn’t stop him from blaming himself.

“Come on,” he said, gently tugging on her shoulder to lead her back towards the town. “We have to find a way back to Kuiil’s planet.”


	2. Chapter 2

It took them two days, but they eventually managed to make their way back to Kuill’s home. 

They hadn’t spoken much on their way back, Enna trying to come to terms with the destruction of literally everything she owned, and Mando trying to come to terms with the guilt he felt as a result. Kuiil prepared a quick meal for them, but Mando only watched as Enna ate, taking the time to explain to Kuiil what had happened. 

“What will you do now,” Kuiil asked Enna as she put her finished plate down.

Mando saw her jaw clench, saw the momentary fear flash in her eyes before she could stop it. Putting on a brave face, forcing a smile, she looked up. “I’ll figure something out. I’m a good mechanic; I’m sure I can find work or something.” 

Kuiil nodded and stood, heading outside to finish up the repairs on the Razor Crest. They sat in silence for a long time, Enna trying to hide her worry, Mando noticing it anyway. 

“You could come with me,” he finally said, and she jerked her head up to look at him.

“What?”

“Come work with me, until we can save up enough money to buy you a new ship.” Over the past two days, he’d come up with at least half a dozen other ways to pay her back, but he’d dismissed each one in his head as it had come up. The fact that they all involved never seeing her again was purely coincidental. 

“Thank you,” she said, not ungrateful. “But I’ll be fine. I don’t need your charity.”

“It’s not charity. You said you were going to look for work as a mechanic. This is work.”

“Again, thank you,” she began. “But you don’t need to worry about me.” Her intention had been to stay on the move, alone, just as she always had. _Keep your head down, don’t stay in one place too long, and don’t rely on anyone but yourself_. It was how she survived. She stood to leave the hut, but Mando grabbed her hand before she could make it out the door. 

“Enna, please,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him. “This is my fault. I need to make this right. Come with me.”

She stared at his helmet, wishing she could see his face. She’s been alone for a long time. As good as she was at getting people to open up to her, opening up to others was simply out of the question. But just as he’d wanted to trust her, she wanted to trust him, thought that she _could_ trust him. She cursed at herself internally at the thought. _Don’t rely on anyone but yourself_. That was the rule. But his hands on her shoulders felt warm, comforting, and she thought back to the explosion, about how safe she’d felt with his armor clad body protecting her. Before she even knew she’d made the decision, she felt herself nodding.

“Good,” he said, his hands sliding off her shoulders. “We’ll leave tomorrow. We’ll go to town first, I’m sure you need to buy some stuff before we go.”

She shook her head. “I … I don’t … all the money I had was on the ship.” She couldn’t see the look of self-reproach that crossed his face, but it was there all the same.

“I can take care of it,” he said, holding his hand up as she started to protest. “Consider it the first installment of repayment. Okay?”

She nodded, and he nodded in return. 

“You should get some sleep,” he said after a moment. “It’s been a tough couple of days.”


	3. Chapter 3

They woke the next morning, and after a quick trip to town for essentials, Enna, Mando, and the child were boarding the Razor Crest. Mando showed Enna her room, and she tossed what few belongings she’d picked up onto the bed before joining Mando in the cockpit. 

“So,” she said, dropping into the co-pilot’s seat as they took off. “Where are we going?”

“I heard about a job on a small planet in the outer rim. I’d like to avoid guild work for now; too easy for Gideon to track me that way.”

Enna nodded, relaxing slightly, and they sat in awkward silence for a few moments. The child crawled into Enna’s lap and immediately fell asleep, and Enna found herself alternating between staring at the alien child in her lap and stealing glances at the Mandalorian beside her. After a while, he turned to face her.

“You want to ask about the armor.”

She shook her head, embarrassed at being caught. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s ok,” he replied. “If we’re going to be travelling together you should understand. You want to know if I really never take the helmet off?” Enna nodded. “I can take it off, just not in the presence of another living thing.”

“Just your helmet? What about the rest of you?” Enna, asked, then blushed as she realized how that might be taken. “I don’t mean … like that … I just … can you take your armor off around people?” She frowned to herself.  _ Why was she suddenly acting like a besotted schoolgirl? _ She was usually more controlled than this, more guarded. But there was something about him that had made her drop her defenses, and she had just responded, without thought. She sighed a little in relief when she heard him chuckle.

“The helmet is the only thing that’s forbidden,” he said, “though most Mandalorians, myself included, are not particularly comfortable removing our armor either.”

“What if you’re injured?” There was a note of genuine concern in her voice.

He shook his head. “Most injuries I can handle myself. If it’s so bad that it requires another person to see my face, I would rather die.”

“Why?” she asked.

“This is the way.”

___________________________________________________________________

It was night on the small, out of the way planet when they arrived. Mando set them down in a clearing close enough to town to make it accessible, but far enough that no one would ask questions. He stood from his seat and made his way down the cockpit ladder. 

“I’ll go into town tomorrow,” he said as he descended. “It’s too late tonight. I’ll find some food for you, and then we should get some sleep.”

Enna followed him, carefully cradling the child in one arm while she held onto the ladder with the other. She reached the bottom and looked around, trying to find a place to deposit the sleeping child. She saw Mando watching her, his head tilted just slightly, and she furrowed her brow. 

“Does he have a bed or something? I don’t … I don’t really know much about taking care of babies …”

Mando smiled to himself and crossed the cargo hold to gently take the child from her arms.

“That’s ok,” he said, laying the child down in his floating crib and closing the top. “I don’t really know what I’m doing either, but I’ve managed to keep him alive this long.”

Enna laughed, and the sound made Mando’s heart pound in his chest.  _ He’d made her laugh _ .  _ Why did that make him feel so good? _

Burying the feeling, he opened a cupboard and pulled out a protein bar for her.

“Are you going to eat?” she asked, taking it from him as she sat on a nearby crate. 

“I will,” Mando said. “I’ll take something with me when I turn in for the night.”

Enna frowned. “I can go somewhere else, the cockpit, or my room or something, if you want to eat now. I don’t want to be an intrusion.”

Mando looked at her, grateful she couldn’t see his face beneath his helmet. He wanted to tell her that he was glad she was there, that he was only sitting in the cargo hold because he wanted to be where she was.  _ He didn’t usually want to be around other people, but here he was, going out of his way to be near her. _

“You’re not,” he finally said. 


	4. Chapter 4

“This planet is pretty quiet, if you and the kid want to explore or something while I’m gone, you’ll be safe.”

It had been nearly a month since Enna had joined them. She’d proven useful as a mechanic, and was getting the hang of babysitting, leaving Mando free to take jobs and follow leads on the kid. They were currently on a small planet in the middle of nowhere; Mando was chasing a lead on a quarry. 

“Good,” Enna replied. “I think we both could use some fresh air.”

“Maybe take a gun with you,” Mando said as he was getting ready to leave the ship. “Just in case.”

Enna just nodded and watched him go. She still wasn’t used to the way he prioritized her safety over almost everything else. At first she’d thought his protectiveness was just directed at the kid; she just happened to be an unintentional beneficiary. But about a week after she’d joined them, they’d had a conversation that had made her realize otherwise. 

_“I think I’m going to head down to the bazaar before we go back to the ship,” she’d said to Mando as they were wrapping up a quick job._

_He’d shaken his head. “Are you sure? This town isn’t exactly what I’d call safe.”_

_“I wasn’t planning to take the kid,” she’d responded._

_“I didn’t think you were.” There’d been a trace of confusion in his voice. “But it isn’t any safer for you than it is for him.”_

_She’d just stared at him for a moment, surprised that he was worried about her safety._

_“We’ll all go,” he’d said finally, standing and picking up the child._

_“Mando, you just said it’s not safe, so instead of just me going, you’re going to bring the kid?”_

_“I meant it’s not safe for you to go alone. If I’m there, I can protect you.”_

That had stayed with her. _I can protect you._

_____________________________________________________________________

An hour later, Mando was heading back to the ship, having gotten the information he was looking for and ready to move on. 

He arrived to find Enna and the child sitting in the grass, smiles on their faces. Enna was wearing a crown of flowers, busy at work making another one for the child. Knowing they hadn’t seen him yet, he stopped to watch them. He felt his heart pound in his chest again as Enna finished the second crown and placed it on the child’s head, looping it over one ear so it hung crookedly. She laughed, and her face brightened, and he suddenly realized that he didn’t want to go back to a life without her. He’d never felt personal attachment to anyone before, so it had snuck up on him, owning him before he had a chance to talk himself down from it. 

Enna looked up at that moment, finally seeing the Mandalorian across the field. She picked the child up and stood, pointing to Mando as she said something to the child. The child followed her gaze and squealed in delight as he saw his foster father making his way to them. 

“You look like you were having fun,” he said as he approached, reaching out to touch the flower crown hanging off the child’s ear. There was a softness to his voice Enna hadn’t heard before. 

She shrugged. “I like flowers.”

Mando just nodded, but filed the information away. _Enna likes flowers._


	5. Chapter 5

Mando’s latest job had taken them to yet another middle of nowhere planet, and Enna and the child were spending another afternoon playing near the ship while Mando turned in his bounty. He’d been gone longer than she’d expected, and she was just starting to worry when she saw the familiar shape of his helmet appear at the edge of a nearby cluster of trees. She stood, tilting her head as she surveyed him, carefully noting the way he moved to look for injuries. He seemed fine. 

“Everything ok?” she asked as he approached. “You were gone longer than I thought you would be.”

“Sorry,” Mando replied. “I decided to stop into the town and take care of some other business.”

“Ok,” Enna said, not pushing. Mando’s business was his business. She turned to pick up the child, but Mando caught her arm. 

“I, uh … I have something for you,” he said, uncharacteristically nervous. 

Enna turned back to face him, and Mando pulled out a pouch, full of coins, if the jangling it made was any indication. 

He held out it to her, and she took it, her brow furrowing in confusion. 

“It’s what I owe you,” he said. “To buy a new ship.”

Enna’s head shot up, her face tense. She fought to keep her expression neutral as anger, sadness, and fear all raged inside her.  _ He was asking her to leave.  _ She didn’t know what to say, and was getting ready to turn away from him when he spoke again.

“But I wanted to ask you something first.”

She looked back, her expression unchanging, and waited for him to speak. 

He took a deep breath. “Stay on the Razor Crest instead.”

Her expression changed to confusion again. “What?”

“Don’t leave. Keep the money, it’s what I owe you. But stay. On this ship. Permanently.”

She was caught completely off guard. She just stared at him in silence for a moment as she rapidly worked through the decision in her head. Every instinct that she honed over years of being on her own was telling her to take the money, buy a new ship, and forget all about Mando and the kid. But moments ago, when she’d thought he wanted her to leave, it had broken her heart. She wanted to stay.  _ And it wasn’t like she couldn’t eventually leave if she had to.  _

“If you want me to stay, why did you go to the trouble of pulling together all this money?” she asked cautiously.

“I want to make sure you know all your options. I don’t want you to stay because you feel like you have no other choice.”

“And you’re not just asking me to stay because you still feel guilty?”  _ Where had that question come from? _ She was surprised to realize that was a fear she’d had for some time. She wanted him to genuinely want her there.

“Of course not. I mean, I do still feel guilty, but my debt to you is paid,” he said, indicating the pouch. “I’m asking you to stay because I like having you here. So does the kid.”

She was quiet for a moment longer, looking back and forth between Mando and the pouch of coins. Finally, after what felt to Mando like a thousand years, she nodded. 

“I’ll stay,” she said.

“Good.” He smiled, and for the first time in his life he wanted to take off his helmet, just so she could see how happy it made him that she was staying. “I also did a little exploring on my way back. Want to see what I found?”

She nodded, and Mando stooped to pick up the kid, gesturing for her to follow him as he headed back towards the cluster of trees. They made their way through, Enna keeping a curious eye on Mando, until finally they reached the edge of the trees and she turned her face to the clearing he’d led them to. It was full of wildflowers. 

Enna’s face broke into a huge smile, and she dashed into the field, dropping into the grass to lay on her back. Mando put the child down, and he toddled over to join Enna among the flowers, cooing and laughing with her as Mando watched his family play.


	6. Chapter Six

Enna was sitting in the chair beside the Mandalorian’s bed in his small room when she saw him stir. She leaned forward, cautious. 

“Mando?” 

He groaned, his head turning towards her as he slowly sat up. A sigh of relief gusted out of her. He hadn’t been out very long, she’d only managed to get him back into the ship less than 10 minutes ago. But it had been 10 of the longest minutes of her life. 

She heard him take a deep breath. “What happened?”

“You tell me,” she replied. “You were gone a lot longer than you should’ve been.”

“It was an ambush. There were about a dozen of them. I managed to take most of them down, but then it gets a little fuzzy.”

“I went out after you,” Enna said, picking up where he left off. “I got there just in time to see you hit the ground. There were only three left. I sniped them, and dragged you back here. I didn’t …. I couldn’t tell how injured you were, but I knew ...” She trailed off. He hadn’t had any visible injuries or wounds, leading her to assume it must have been a head injury. But the only way to know would have been to take off his helmet.

“You knew I wouldn’t want you to take off my helmet,” he finished for her.

“Yeah,” she replied shortly, standing. “You said you’d rather die than have someone see you without your helmet. I was worried it was going to come to that.” She paused. “I’m sure you need to clean up. I’ll leave.” She suddenly had to get out of his room. She’d been so terrified that she was going to lose him, and now that he was okay, the reality of how much he meant to her was starting to sink in. Mando just watched as she left the room, closing the door behind her and climbing the ladder to the cockpit.

She collapsed into the pilot’s seat and took a deep, steadying breath. Peeling off her overshirt, she turned to the wound on her arm. She’d told Mando that she’d sniped all three, but that hadn’t been exactly true. She’d gotten two down, but the third had been too close to the Mandalorian for her to risk it. It had been a fight. Short, but she hadn’t walked away unscathed. She opened the med kit Mando kept under the pilot seat, pulling out the bacta spray and a roll of bandages. She twisted her arm, trying to get herself into a position to reach the wound, but she couldn’t get her other arm around far enough. She winced in pain as she reached, the movement pulling on the wound, and was so distracted by the effort she didn’t hear the footsteps coming up the ladder. 

“I thought you said you sniped all of them,” she heard Mando say, his voice tight and full of worry. 

She sighed in frustration. “The last one was too close to you for me to risk a shot. I had to get closer. I took him down, it’s fine, it’s not a big deal.”

Mando sat in the co-pilot’s seat, turning Enna so he could get a closer look at her injury. 

“Let me have the bacta spray,” he said, his hand wrapping gently around her arm just below the wound.

Enna pulled her arm out of his hand, tightening her grip on the spray canister. “It’s fine,” she said shortly. “I can handle it.”

“Enna, please, let me help you.”

She turned on him harshly, an edge to her voice he’d never heard before.

“I don’t need your help,” she spat. “I’ve always taken care of myself, just because I happen to be on your ship doesn’t mean I need anything from you.”

He sat back, stunned. They sat in silence for a moment, Enna refusing to look at him. After a moment, she felt, rather than saw, Mando reach over and take the bacta spray and bandages from her, allowing him to turn her back around so he could see the wound. She was honest enough with herself to acknowledge that she did actually need his help, but she wasn’t about to admit it out loud. She heard a rustling of material, and started slightly in surprise when she felt his bare fingers touch her arm. She knew it was the first time in a long time, decades maybe, that he’d touched someone without his gloves on, and her anger died at his touch.  _ If he could let himself get close to her, why couldn’t she let herself get close to him?  _ They didn’t speak as he dressed her wound, and once he’d finished he let his ungloved hand linger on her arm for a moment. Enna felt his thumb rub back and forth on her arm a couple of times, and then his hand was gone. The sudden loss of contact brought tears to her eyes. She closed her eyes and waited to hear his footsteps take him out of the cockpit and down the ladder, but after a moment of silence, she opened them again. Mando was still sitting in the co-pilot’s chair, and as she turned her head back towards him he reached for her hand.

“I don’t …” he trailed off, not really knowing how to begin. “You never talk about your past, so I don’t know why you’ve always had to take care of yourself, or why you refuse to let yourself need anyone. And I understand, I’m not big on needing people either. But you don’t have to be afraid of it. I’m here, Enna. I just … I just wish you trusted me.”

Enna let out a slow breath and squeezed his hand. “I wish it were that simple.”

Mando didn’t say anything, he just stared at their joined hands, focusing on the feeling of her skin against his. Finally he nodded, before clearing his throat and standing. 

“I have some guild business on Nevarro,” he said, letting go of her hand. “I’ll run into town in the morning and pick up some supplies, and then we’ll head out.” As he spoke he turned to make his way out of the cockpit, so he missed seeing the the color drain from her face at the mention of Nevarro and the bounty hunters guild. 

She closed her eyes again, trying to fix the moment in her mind; the feel of Mando’s hand, the gentleness in his voice. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to trust him, there were just things he didn’t know. She’d been hoping to ride it out as long as possible, to stay with him as long as she could. But she couldn’t go to Nevarro. And she couldn’t tell him why she couldn’t go to Nevarro. There was only one answer. She walked out of the cockpit and down to her room, closing the door behind her. She packed her things as quietly as possible, and waited for the Mandalorian to fall asleep. 


End file.
